My Unknown Effect
by Coooool123
Summary: You never know how much you can change with a single mistake. He never realized how much he would impact his family - he thought they never cared. But the world's demise and restoration rests on his shoulders now. And he's not even old enough to go outside on his own. Cover drawn by me. Even if you don't know who the Koopalings are, they're described later on. I hope you enjoy.
1. Prologue

Now, the Mushroom Kingdom is a pretty peaceful place, and its residents live fairly nice lives. The Kingdom is almost always sun-filled, and its people are carefree. More often than not, you'll see children playing in the streets, adults chatting away on their errands, and Yoshi frolicking through grassy green plains.

However... our story does not take place in the Mushroom Kingdom. It takes place in the land of its enemy, the fiery world of the Darklands. More notably, King Bowser's castle. The Ruler of the Darklands, along with his many minions, periodically interrupt the peace of the Mushroom Kingdom by kidnapping its ruler, Princess Peach, in an attempt to win her affections. Thankfully for the Mushroom Kingdom, they have none other than a heroic pair of plumbers, known as The Mario Brothers, who go and rescue Princess Peach from these abductions. Mario and Luigi defeat Bowser even more often than his kidnappings. And thus peace is able to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. This continuous cycle may seem arduous, but the brothers don't mind. They will do anything it takes to save the Princess, regardless of what situation they are placed in.

Again, there is an exception to this story. The brothers, and even the princess herself, are not our main focus. Rather, this story is concentrated on Bowser's youngest son of five years of age, his favourite, the one who looks the most like the King himself, appropriately named Bowser Junior.

And a simple mistake that leads to the demise of the entire world.

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**Oh look another new thing that'll take me forever to finish!**

**Title page designed by me.**

**If you'd like to see the full view, feel free to visit me on deviantart. I have the same username.**


	2. Chapter 1: Finding Family

**Whelp. Might as well get this out since it's here. Wanted to get further ahead, but meh. Hope you enjoy ^^ Critiques are appreciated.**

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Dark clouds filled the sky; lava bubbled and streamed out of active volcanoes that dotted the landscape, as majestic as regular mountains, contributing to the red and black hues of the vast land. It was a typical day in the kingdom of Darkland. Numerous creatures roamed the charred grounds, some on missions, and others on errands, all loyal to the vicious King who ruled their land. The castle itself was the pinnacle of the land, its gray stone stretching for miles across the vast terrain. In itself, the castle could have been a small city. Only one massive stone bridge over a vast lava-filled moat allowed access to the castle, and it was heavily guarded by many different species, ranging from Koopatrol to Shy Guys to Goombas.

Within the castle, the heir to the throne, young Prince Bowser Junior, paraded the hallways, a canvas in his hands. The young Dragon-Koopa was the spitting image of his father when he was a child. His skin was a yellow tone, brighter than that of his father's, most likely due to his young age. Unlike most Dragon-Koopas, he possessed only one fang, in the upper left corner of his wide and puffy mouth, which happened to be covered with flecks of red, green, and blue. His teardrop shaped nostrils flared from excitement. His head was a light green, and the top of it sported fiery orange-red hair, held into a top-ponytail shape by a small metal ring. His small black eyes were gleaming with elation, his orange eyebrows in a happy position for once, instead of their usual angry, scheming one. Two small horns had begun to grow on either side of his head, with orange rings around each of them. His face was currently covered in multiple colours of paint hues, the most vibrant being orange, pink, and purple. His shell was a green colour with a white encasing, and like the horns on his head, the small spikes on his shell were also encircled by orange rings. On his wrists were two non-spiked, metal cuffs, and his claws and four-fingered hands were covered in paint. His tail was wagging happily, a splotch of ice blue dotting the tip, and his white bandana, normally sporting a fanged mouth, was sporting green stains this day (one may call it a bib, but he absolutely detested this childish term and rejected it at all costs). He had a chubby frame, with a padded stomach, and padded, three-toed feet. His foot claws were coloured a messy yellow, almost blending in with his own skin tone.

Junior was holding onto the completed painting with the utmost care, as if it were a delicate Koopa egg. While the canvas was small, only the size of a sheet of paper, he considered it of no concern compared to the amount of detail that the painting held. He would have gone bigger, but had decided against it as he wanted to be able to hide it if someone barged in unexpectedly. The picture was dry by this time, covered in a silk white sheet. It was his best yet, by his opinion, and he could not _wait_ to show it to everyone in his family. The young prince had spent days, nay, _weeks_, working on his latest masterpiece. He had painstakingly made sure that every detail was accurate, the colours a flawless hue, and that not a single spot was out of place. The boy had even forgone kidnapping excursions, sporting events, and family outings in order to achieve perfection. Uncountable sums of canvases had been spent in order to produce the perfect painting, not to mention the numerous paint bottles and brushes he had gone through in order to get the perfect colours and textures. Junior had not simply used great amounts of literal material in his work, but he had also exhausted incredible amounts of strength and endurance, physical, mental and emotional, to produce this picture, and out of his immense repertoire of artistic treasures, this one definitely took the cake.

_Or in Morton's case, _wedding_cake_, Junior grinned, thinking of his older brother of twelve years, and his fondness for the formal white dessert. It was unknown why he preferred wedding cake over regular cake… perhaps Morton was attempting to hint something to their father? Junior thought fondly of the chubby Koopaling, as his older siblings were known as. He himself was not considered a Koopaling, having risen above that rank as heir to the throne, but he was nevertheless honoured when people grouped him with them.

…Alright, perhaps 'honoured' isn't the best word. More so offended, considering his spoiled nature, and taking into account his desire to be greater than they were. Regardless, he did occasionally enjoy that title, as he did want to be included with his siblings and hated being left out.

At any rate, the child had a wide grin on his face as his thoughts bounced from family member to family member. First there was the eldest, of age seventeen, Ludwig Von Koopa, musician extraordinaire. Of somewhat German heritage, due to his namesake, and though they mocked his music, Junior would never deny his talent. Then, there was Lemmy Koopa. Smaller than the youngest himself, despite being sixteen years of age, Lemmy used a yellow ball with orange stars on it to walk, and a smile was never missing from his face, even in the most trying circumstances. He was followed by Roy Koopa, fifteen years old, the biggest, strongest, and toughest of them all. Despite his feminine colouring, no one would dare mock him about it, not even their worst enemies. Iggy Koopa, or Ignatius, as his birth name was, followed suite; the smartest, though Ludwig would be the first to argue this fact, and definitely the most eccentric. One would even go so far as to call the fourteen year-old crazy, though there was a definite reason behind his seemingly insane composure. Not even Lemmy, the closest to him, understood what went on through his demented mind. After Iggy was thirteen year-old Wendy O. Koopa, the only female of the group, though certainly not the weakest by any means. She could hold her own in a fight, and was the brattiest female Koopa Junior had ever known. Of course, she was the only female Koopa he'd ever known personally, but the point still stands. Morton Koopa Jr. had previously been mentioned. Named after their grandfather, King Morthophelus Koopa, he was definitely the chatterbox of the family, who probably had an incredible lung capacity, but he never stopped talking long enough for any of them to find out. Junior swore he even talked in his sleep. Finally, there was Lawrence, or Larry, eleven years of age, and the craftiest, sneakiest Koopa the kingdom had ever seen. His schemes were of quality that Ludwig and Iggy combined could only dream of, and were often used in Bowser's kidnapping excursions. Larry claimed that any failure was due to the plumbers, or even their father. He was proud of his plans, and hated when they did not succeed.

These were all in his mind, even ones like the wizards Kamek and Kammy, who were not blood relatives, but were still considered as part of the family; and someone else, someone he had admittedly never seen in person, but who in no way, shape, or form was escaping from his thoughts.

Junior let out a sigh, his large smile fading into a soft, delicate one, one that is rarely seen on the face of any Koopa. He truly loved his family, despite the fact that it didn't seem like it most of the time.

Rushing past servants and slaves and troop members, he ignored the curious, and sometimes spiteful, looks he was receiving. He had too much to occupy his mind at the moment to be concerned with such trivialities.

His current objective was to locate his family. After avoiding them for so long in order to finish his project, he desperately felt the need to show it off and explain to the others that he had not been ignoring them, but, rather, he had been readying a surprise for them.

_I hope they like it_, Junior thought to himself, _I worked so hard on this, and I really want them to appreciate it!_

It wasn't long in his search before he spotted a member of the royal family, with their shell facing him. The grin on the face of the youngest grew even more when he realized who it was.

"Hey! Ludwig!"

The oldest turned and looked back on hearing his name. His build was very similar to Junior's. The only major difference – besides height, him being a head taller than Junior – was his facial appearance. His head was a darker shade of green compared to Junior's, and his snout was more slender and defined. He had a long, single fang in the upper center of his snout. His eyes were small and circular, and above them were small, dark blue eyebrows. His most distinguishing feature was his deep blue hair, resembling the hair of his namesake, Ludwig Von Beethoven. His shell was the same colour as his hair, and the ringlets surrounding his spikes were a light shade of orange. Ludwig also wore black, spiked, metal cuffs, as opposed to Junior's plain gray ones, an accessory worn by every Koopaling, with the exception of Wendy.

On seeing Junior, his eyes narrowed with a slight look of contempt.

"Vell. Eef eet eezn't zee crown prince," he mocked, with his German accent punctuating his words, "Finally gracing us vith your presence, I see. Vhat brings _you_ here?"

Junior was a bit taken aback by his attitude, but decided that that was understandable, considering he had just spent weeks brushing everyone off…

"Actually," he began, "I wanted to talk to you! I have–"

"Vhat an _honour_!" Ludwig interrupted him, feigning flattery, "You actually _vant_ to speak to me?"

Junior felt his happy mood fading quickly.

"Yes! I have something really important that I want to show you!" He held up his covered canvas, trying to keep his grin as excited as before.

Ludwig's expression changed from sarcastic to irritated. "Oh. Anozzer von of your little paintings. Vell, I vould _hate_ to allow zhis opportunity to pass me by, but I have much more important zings to do zhan look at your little scribbles. I have symphonies to vrite, plans to prepare, undt _kidnappings to execute_." He added a pointed emphasis to the last three words.

Junior let out a breath, trying to keep calm. "…look, Ludwig, I know I've been kinda… ignoring you all lately… but it was for a special reason and I really want you to see this!"

"So ze annual Koopa gazzering vas not _special_ enough for you? Undt my first live performance in front of ze entire kingdom of Darkland vas not _special_ enough for you?"

Junior bit his lip. Yeah, of course those events were special, and he'd felt bad missing them, but if Ludwig would just _look_ at the painting…

"Ludwig, I'm sorry I missed those things, but –"

"Oh, you missed more zhan zhat, as ze ozzers vill most likely bring up, eef you vish to speak to zhem as vell. But apparently it vasn't special enough for you to care about." With that, he stormed off, leaving Junior sad and alone.

_W-well… he's just in a mood… he always gets into these moods… I'll just have to show him later! I'd better go look for the others then, while he cools down!_

The little Dragon-Koopa shook his head with determination, and rushed off to find someone else with whom he could share his work.


	3. Chapter 2: Building Rage

**Well this took forever to post. Nyeh.**

**In my stories I seem to alternate between Roy having a Brooklyn accent or not... hm.**

**Also, for those of you who wanted to know, the Koopalian Artifacts do NOT appear in this story. That's something later to come. Though this story does have certain characters that WILL appear in that, so it's still good to read!**

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He was close to the kitchen when he found another of his siblings. His older brother Morton was busying himself with eating a piece of chocolate cake, crumbs and icing flying all over the place as he devoured the decadent dessert. Junior called to him, but there was no response.

Unlike his siblings, Morton's skin was a darker shade, being brown as opposed to yellow, and his head was white. Like his namesake, he was the spitting image of his grandfather, from the sets of three hairs that protruded from the top of his head and served as his eyebrows, to the dark brown star birthmark that covered his left eye and parts of his cheek and snout. His stomach paddings were a greyish-brown colour. His black shell had a white encasing, and each short spike on it was circled with white rings. He was round and large, slightly taller than Ludwig, but not by much. Compared to Junior, however, Morton was almost twice his size. He was definitely the chubbiest Koopaling out of all of them, and Junior figured that that was because of his love of food.

Junior called his name again, and he spun around, freezing mid-bite. His giant, four-fanged muzzle was opened wide, ready to swallow another piece of cake, with the two pieces already inside of his mouth, half-chewed and partly liquefied. His snout was covered in chocolate. His eyes narrowed, and his wide-open maw made his already small black irises seem even more miniscule than usual.

"Oh, hey Junioh," he mumbled, food spewing everywhere, "Where've you been?"

Junior scrunched his nose in slight disgust at the ugly sight. Morton was never one to chew with his giant mouth closed, or to swallow before speaking. To be honest, neither he nor his siblings did, besides Ludwig and Iggy, but Morton was the worst and the most revolting when it came to manners, even by Koopa standards. It was times like this that he wondered why he was such a glutton. However, shaking the negative thoughts from his mind, he focused on the task at hand. He knew that Morton wouldn't stay mad at him, no matter how grumpy he could get.

The youngest held up his covered canvas. "I've been working on something really awesome, and I wanted to show it to you!"

Morton seemed mildly intrigued at his statement.

"Well I do like really awesome stuff like that one time I found that gum under King Dad's armrest and it was coconut favoured it was so good you know how rare coconut flavoured gum is these days we only get like ten boxes now and Wendy always hogs it all she's so bratty speaking of Wendy she's probably mad you missed her dance performance and her ice skating competition and I mean _really_ mad I mean she threw a tantrum for a week I'm surprised you didn't come out to see what was going on actually it was weird because we went to check on you and you had locked your door what you don't want to see us or something well that's really rude of you even for Koopas I mean we're family bro we should make time for each other and all that good stuff like my book release you weren't there for my first reading when it was published why would you miss that you know how much it meant to me and it was really important and you–"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry…" Junior held up his hand, cutting him off. "I know I missed a lot, but once you'll see why, you'll understand!" He hesitated for a moment before pressing onwards. "…Do you want to see it?"

Morton didn't answer, pausing nervously as Junior thrust the painting forward, unsure of what to do. Biting his lip, he glanced around, and slowly put a hand forward, reaching for the sheet that covered the canvas, as though he feared it would bite him.

"No, he doesn't."

A harsh voice came out of nowhere, startling them both. Morton wrenched his hand back rapidly, as if he'd been burned, and turned his head left and right, searching for the owner of the voice with an expression of guilt dominating his facial features. Two gleaming ovals stared back at them from the shadows to their left, as a figure leaned against the wall.

The voice continued on, increasing in volume as the figure approached. On seeing a bright pink head, Junior knew exactly which brother it was. He was buffer than any of the other Koopalings, and his only noticeable feature, besides his two fangs and pink head, was a pair of cat-eyed, magenta sunglasses, which were never removed, even in his sleep. He was hunched over, his large head hiding any evidence of a neck. His shell was a regular purple colour, and the ringlets surrounding his shell were a bright magenta, exactly the same colour as his shades. Other than that, he closely resembled Ludwig, as far as other basic physical traits were concerned.

"He doesn't care 'bout your worthless Cucco scratches, shrimp. Get lost."

"R-Roy?" Junior turned to the left to face his strongest brother, with a scared look on his face as he clutched the painting to his chest. He'd never seen his biggest brother look so intimidating towards him before, and, knowing the damage he could do when he was mad, felt fear freeze his feet to the floor beneath him.

"S'mattah, small fry?" Roy sneered, cracking his knuckles as he took a step towards them, which caused Morton to back up in apprehension. "Ya tink yer bettah den us? Ya tink we'll forget you ditchin' us fer some lame doodles? Ya missed my big boxin' matches. But don't worry… I'm a considerate guy. In fact, I tink I'll show ya ALL da moves I used, up close and personal!"

"N-no, that's okay…" Usually, Junior would be screaming at Roy for treating him in such a way, especially considering that he was the Koopalings' superior and was to be treated with respect. But, at the moment, he was too worried that the painting would be ruined by his brother's ideas of 'considerate'. Not to mention that, even though he was crown prince, his siblings were still older, besides being stronger and smarter, to boot.

Not that he would admit that those last two things were true. Out loud, at least.

A cruel smirk spread itself onto Roy's face, showing most of his teeth. "Oh… but I _insist_. It's da _least_ I can do, ya lyin' brat!"

_Lying…?_ "I never lied to you!" he blurted out, without thinking.

Junior saw a vein beginning to pulse on Roy's forehead, a trait he had adopted from their father whenever he was mad.

"Oh. Really. Ya nevah lied ta me, huh?" His smirk morphed into a snarl, and he gestured to Morton. "An' I bet ya nevah lied ta da rest of 'em eidah, didja? Moron, you got a good tinkah. Why don't ya tell 'im what he said? Since he obviously can't remembah on his own, 'n I'm almost ready ta beat 'is head inta da ground. I'd rada he knew before I beat 'im up, 'cause den he can get why I'll be whalin' on 'im!"

Morton, too fearful to correct Roy on calling him 'Moron' again, obliged with his request. "Five weeks ago I came to you to ask you if you'd be at my book release when I did my first public reading ever and I really really wanted you all to come and you said I quote word for word without any alteration or editing or correction or anything 'Yes Morton I'll be there I promise I won't miss it for the world it won't be the same without the crown prince there don't you worry I'll go!' and then you never showed up and I was really really disappointed because you wanted to be an important character in the story and I even put you in it and you didn't show up and I – OW!"

Roy had smacked him upside the head, hard. Morton held his cranium in agony. He staggered back further from the hit, mumbling over the pain and over the fact that he never got any respect.

"Shaddup ya idiot 'n get to da important part. AKA MY part. An' no ramblin' eidah, _or else_." Roy showed him his fist.

Morton slowly came forward again, still rubbing the right side of his head, where Roy had struck him. "Right right… well… um… if I remember correctly… you promised Roy that you'd be at his wrestling match and you wanted to make sure he gave you a special mention and invited him on stage or else you'd tell King Dad that he broke another Bowser statue when he was practicing with his Bullet Bill Blaster and –"

Roy cut him off, thrusting an arm into Morton's nose by accident, causing the large Koopaling to land on his tail "–AND when ya DIDN'T show up ya made me look like a gigantic IDIOT in front of da entire kingdom! AND King Dad! I was so steamin' mad I pulverized da next five chumps so bad 'ol man Kamek had ta make a shield over 'em to stop da matches!" He paused. "I won, by da way. Tanks fer askin'."

"Well… I'm glad you won…" Junior whimpered cautiously, relaxing slightly. "But… I really think you'll realize why I had to miss your matches… if I could show you what I made–"

He cried out in shock and pain as Roy roughly shoved him to the ground. "All dat and ya still tink yer too good fer an apology? Oh I'm gonna pound ya inta DUST!"

Morton went into action, holding back his raging brother as Junior rushed off, tears stinging his face. Roy's voice rang down the hallways in rage.

"And don't tink da oddahs wanna see yer patetic scribbles, eidah!" he screamed after him, "Not aftah what you did!"

He continued running down the halls long after Roy's threats faded from his hearing and ceased echoing down the castle halls after him, clutching the painting to his chest, as if it was a delicate glass figurine. He'd never seen his older brother so enraged, and, despite how much he hated it, it frightened him greatly.

Of course, this was probably the worst of it. He doubted the others would be as furious, and decided to head over to the one brother who was almost never mad at all, no matter what you did.

The only problem was, he didn't know where to find him. And he definitely wasn't going back the way he had come. He didn't want to risk running into Roy again. So, Junior simply decided to wander the halls until he found him.

But as he was looking for this brother of his, he ended up catching sight of another, who was currently fiddling with something, his shell to Junior. He had a bright blue Mohawk, combed back and spikey, which was a deeper blue at the roots but got lighter as it continued upwards. It also had light blue highlights, which were rarely ever noticeable. His shell was an ice blue, with darker blue rings circling the spikes, and his mouth possessed two pointed fangs. He was pretty plain compared to the rest of them; he did have a dark blue star birthmark on the left side of his green head, but other than that, he was the most normal looking out of all of them, resembling most of their siblings.

"Larry!" Junior called, forgetting what had happened with Roy and eagerly rushing forward to see his youngest older brother.

Larry spun around, his large eyes wide. His irises were also a bright blue colour, and they seemed to be filled with panic, as he whipped his hands behind his back.

"I didn't take anything!" he shouted, without thinking.

Junior stopped in his tracks and tilted his head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Larry, on realizing who it was, let out a sigh of relief, and his fearful expression turned into one of cold disdain, and he brought out what he had been hiding into plain view. It was a small, pink, coin sack.

"Oh. It's you," he sighed, "I thought you were Wendy."

Junior grinned. "You stole her coin purse again?"

"Yeah. Don't tell her, or else you'll be my next target. Now what do you want?"

Junior, ignoring his threat, as he loved it when that brat got what was coming to her anyway, held up his covered painting and let his smile grow.

"I made this for everyone, and I wanted to show it to you!"

Larry let out a snort, twirling the coin purse between his fingers. "And why should I look at it?"

"Because I think you'll really like it!"

"Yeah. And I thought you'd really like to help me out on a heist or watch my big tennis match. But, surprise surprise, you never showed up to either of those things. I just barely managed to win the match, no thanks to you, and the heist was a bust, since I needed someone else's help and you never showed up. I almost got caught, too!"

Junior winced. He knew how spiteful Larry could get if you messed up one of his heists. "I know I missed a lot… but I really want to show this to you and–"

"And what? You're so much better than me, and I'm just the kid everyone forgets, so obviously your needs are way more important than mine?"

"I wasn't going to say that!"

"But you think it, don't you?"

Junior opened his mouth to retort, but slowly closed it. He would be lying if he said 'no', and Larry, being the con man he was, would know it to be so, and he would be even angrier than he already was. So instead, he looked down at the floor and mumbled guiltily: "No one forgets you…"

"You did. Twice. Because of your stupid art. So leave me alone to count Wendy's… I mean, _my_ money, in peace."

With that, Larry spun around and stormed off, heading to his room. Junior couldn't help but feel a little angry at this point. Sure, he hadn't exactly been a keeper of promises, but hey, that's what Koopas were known for, wasn't it? Not being trustworthy. And all he wanted was a second of their time. If they would just _look_ at it… but no, they'd rather spend time yelling at him and insulting him and counting Wendy's money.

Speaking of…

"AND STAY OUT!"

Junior rushed out of his sister's room, covering his head with one hand as she chucked heavy objects at him. She had been furious that he had missed her fashion show, and wasn't going to take his 'insolence' lightly.

"Well that was a bust," he grumbled, as the bright pink door slammed shut behind him. The painting was nestled safely under one arm. He didn't even know why he had bothered trying to show it to Wendy. He knew she would have done this anyway. He'd just wanted someone to appreciate what he had done.

But, in all honestly, he hadn't expected anything different from her. It didn't help that he'd told her that he would model one of her outfits. But this was the only promise he didn't regret breaking. The things she designed were _hideous_, and even if he hadn't been busy with his painting, chances are he still would've tried to get out of it. He had only promised it so that she would stop bothering him when he was trying to work.

_Well… that's five of them… let's hope that Lemmy will at least want to see it… if I can find him…_


	4. Chapter 3: New Plan

**Good. Grief. This took way too long to update.**

**Anyway, I would like to thank my Guest reviewers! ^^ I'm glad you're all enjoying this story so far, and I'm also glad that you enjoy my other works as well! I really want to update Controlled soon... though I have a hard time getting motivated to work on stuff... heh...**

**Anyway! Enjoy this new chapter!**

After a whole hour of searching, Junior finally located Lemmy outside of Iggy's lab, speaking to the owner of said lab.

_Well, two birds with one stone…_ he sighed, steeling himself. "Hey! Lemmy! Iggy!"

The two of them looked over at him in surprise, breaking off their conversation. Junior couldn't tell what they were feeling, considering that they were too stunned at his arrival to show any discernible emotion, as the others had.

"Junior! Where have you been?" Lemmy chirped. He was the smallest, even smaller than Junior, despite being eleven years older than him. His shell was a bright orange, with yellow ringlets surrounding the spikes. He had no fangs, and two bright orange bars on the left side of his head. Unlike the others, he had a turtle-shaped snout. His large, black, oval eyes were looking in two separate directions, due to a head injury he'd had when he was younger. His green head was much larger than it should have been, given his body size, and sported a multi-coloured, six sectioned Mohawk, that alternated between yellow, pink, and blue, and he had a long yellow ponytail with an orange tip. His body was like the others in appearance. He walked on a yellow circus ball with large orange stars printed on the face of it.

"I've been working on something that I've been trying to show everyone," Junior replied.

"Oh, really…" Iggy raised a non-existent eyebrow, skeptical. He was the tallest of them all, and the leanest. While his body and head were the same as everyone else's, he wore a pair of large black glasses. His snout was similar to Lemmy's in appearance, with a flatter nose, though he possessed four teeth. His eyes were large and oval-shaped, with blue-ringed irises. His shell was light green in colour, with purple rings surrounding the spikes. His most noticeable feature was his hair, a bright, vibrant shade of lime-green, with darker green tips. It stood straight up, and then curved down near the top. It was almost like a palm tree.

"Yeah. And before you say anything, I'm sorry if I promised you something and then forgot about it later."

"Well, it's apparently not that important if you can't bother to remember what it was," Iggy drawled, a disturbing smirk crossing his features.

Lemmy's expression had changed from one of shock to one of unease, and he looked away, uncertain of how to respond.

"I know, I know…" Junior didn't let the words faze him. "I was really distracted by my art. But I'm really hoping this will make it up to you."

"Oh I highly doubt it," The tallest Koopaling folded his arms smugly. "After all, broken promises aren't easily reconciled. But allow me to enlighten you on exactly what it was that you missed." Iggy turned to the side, his face darkening as he recalled the events of the previous weeks.

"A young child approaches me in my lab, seeking to borrow some of my mathematical tools and other miscellaneous supplies in order to begin an artistic endeavour. Of course, I agree to such a request, but this does not come without a price! And so I tell him, 'You may borrow my supplies, young brother of mine! But to do so you must complete a task for me!' The child was skeptical, but he agreed, for he needed these supplies as soon as possible. But what was said task, you wonder? I gathered up the things he required and handed the bag to him, and said, 'I need you to partake in a teleportation experiment of mine! It will be most glorious, and will be performed in front of thousands of eager onlookers! You see, Dragon-Koopas are the only ones who are able to endure such an experiment without… unnecessary side effects, as previous experiments had proved, and none of the others will agree to it! At the end you can even give a speech on how great I am!' Of course he was cautious, but those were my terms, and thus he agreed to it. But, lo and behold, when the time comes for said experiment, he was nowhere to be found! I had called him from the platform, filled with expectancy, but he never came. Oh how humiliated I was! I went so far as to attempt to breech his chambers, to no success! And thus I was forced to use a regular Koopa in my experiment. The results were… not pleasant…" Iggy cackled self-consciously. "We are still attempting to undo the unfortunate mutations he had experienced…" He turned to Junior, eyes filled with malice. "So you see, youngest brother of mine? I endured grave humiliation because of your ignorance and selfishness! The greater minds of the Mushroom World now consider me to be an insane laughing stock! But I am not the only one who suffered because of your pathetic art!" Iggy put a hand on Lemmy's shoulder, who was incredibly uneasy at this point.

"You may be wondering why I hadn't bothered to ask Lemmy to assist me. You see, he had been my initial test subject, and had gotten off scot-free, so I would have asked him to assist me. However, he had a two circus performances during this time: one the day before, and one the day after. Thus I did not want to put any immense strain on my small brother. Your task was quite simple… do you remember what it was?"

Iggy was getting angrier by the second, so Junior wracked his brain as best he could, but was unable to come up with any sort of definitive answer. However, he did remember one small detail…

"I… think it had something to do with a net," he replied cautiously.

This seemed to soothe the tallest Koopaling's anger a bit. "Indeed it did! Seems your mind is not as self-obsessed as I had thought, for you to remember that detail…"

"Iggy, it's fine… I should've been paying attention," Lemmy tried to ease the tension further.

"Oh no it's not!" A cruel laugh echoed from the scientist's throat and vibrated down the hallways. He pointed an accusing finger at Junior, even angrier than before. "You had promised to assist him with the emergency net! And do you know what had happened the night before my presentation?"

His question was met with an expected silence.

"Someone had used the wrong rope for his trapeze act! Thus it broke and he fell!" Iggy snarled, on the brink of lashing out, "Now that wouldn't have been a problem had _someone_ assisted in preparing the safety net! As a result, he fractured his arm and nearly broke his neck! Thus I highly doubt he would want to have anything to do with you right now!"

Junior's eyes widened. "Oh man… I… Lemmy… are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine!" Lemmy reassured Junior, "These things happen. I'm sure you didn't mean to forget!"

"And I'm sure he didn't mean to let you fall and get you put into the hospital for a week," Iggy hissed, trying to lead Lemmy away.

"…can I at least show you what I made?" Junior asked hopefully.

Lemmy was about to reply with great eagerness, but hesitated for a moment. He glanced up at Iggy, and, on seeing the furious, insane tint in his eyes, the smallest Koopaling shook his head with sad determination. "I… don't want to," he replied, looking away, "Not after this…"

The orange-shelled Koopaling's words calmed Iggy down a great deal, but also resulted in the intense silence that followed.

Junior was dumbstruck. "B-but… I thought you said it was fine!"

"I said _I'm_ fine…" Lemmy murmured gloomily, "I said these things happen… I never said I forgave you… And you never apologized for what you did anyway… so how could I?"

That hurt Junior more than any punches could have. "Lemmy… I…" He couldn't bring himself to speak. In fact, he found it hard to even breathe at this point.

"Now get out of here," Iggy threatened in satisfaction, pacified by Lemmy's words, "Go show it to someone who cares!"

Clutching the precious painting to his plastron, Junior stepped back, once, twice, three times before running off, desperately fighting off the tears that had begun to resurface.

_I-it's not fair! I just wanna show them what I did! Why do they have to be so mean and selfish?! I bet Papa wouldn't… wait! That's it! I'll show Papa! He won't turn me away!_

His strength renewed with the excitement of showing his masterpiece to his father, he switched directions and began to head towards where he knew the King would be at this time of day: Bowser's office.


	5. Chapter 4: Breaking Point

**...well you guys SAID update soon... X3**

**Anyway, here's the last chapter before things REALLY get interesting! ^^**

**The next chapter will be much shorter, but it's a VERY important one! You'll see!**

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Junior soon reached one of the main hallways that led to the throne room. He was so intent on his mission that he didn't notice the overabundance of minions that roamed the halls. A few glanced at him in curiosity, but most ignored him as he rushed to Bowser's office. Junior's excitement blinded him, however, and it wasn't long until he crashed into someone.

"Oof!"

"Ow!" Junior fell onto his tail unceremoniously. He quickly checked to make sure that his painting was okay. Thankfully, it remained undamaged and as pure as it had been when he had finished it the day before.

"Why, Prince Bowser Jr! We haven't seen you for weeks!" On looking up, he realized he had accidentally bumped into none other than Kammy Koopa, a high-ranking member of the Koopa Troop. Kammy was a female Magikoopa, wearing a purple garment and hat with pink on the insides. Her glasses slightly resembled Roy's, only they were brown instead of hot pink and were regular ovals in shape. She seemed a bit preoccupied, but surprised to see him nonetheless.

"Oh, hey Kammy," Junior nodded in greeting. Not exactly the person he was looking for, but hey, maybe she'd want to see what he'd been working on. "Actually, I was just working on a really special painting! Maybe you'd like to-"

"Kammy! The troops are getting restless!" A generic looking Magikoopa approached the duo in irritation. He wore a pair of round, black spectacles on his face, a set of blue robes with white on the edges of his sleeves, and a blue wizard's hat, which had a white brim. "We can't delay training day any more than we already have! It was already enough of a challenge to collect the majority of the Koopa Troop together in one room!"

"Yes, yes, I'm coming Kamek, you senile old swooper!" Kammy retorted, waving her wand around in irritation. She glanced down at Junior. "I'm rather busy now, so you're going to have to find me later, young'un!"

Junior felt dejection creeping into him once more. "But… my painting-"

She waved a dismissive hand. "Yes, yes, I'll hang it up for you in the gallery when I'm not busy! Now run along and go make mischief or whatever it is you children do! I'm quite busy you know! Kids these days, thinking they can get whatever they want whenever they want it…" She rambled on about the younger generation and 'the good old days' as she made her way to where the Troops had gathered.

Kamek adjusted his glasses with a sigh. "My apologies, young prince… it seems we're all overloaded as of late."

"Seems like it…" Junior gave him a side glance. "…did you want to see it?"

"Well, I may have a moment–"

"Kamek! There's an emergency in the kitchen!" Two Goomba chefs rushed to the old advisor's side.

With a moan, Kamek turned his back on the child. "I'll have to speak to you later, Prince Junior. It seems I am urgently needed elsewhere."

"Yeah… whatever… it's fine…" He looked away, feeling his anger boil. "Not like I haven't gotten the same treatment all day…"

Already long gone, Kamek didn't hear his words. But the young Dragon-Koopa decided to shake off these recent rejections. After all, the old advisors weren't who he had wanted to speak to in the first place, so he couldn't care less about them turning away from him. Instead, he decided to turn his attention to the person who mattered most at this moment:

His Papa, Bowser.

Junior regained some of his earlier excitement and rushed up to his father's office room door.

**XXXXX**

_Paperwork… paperwork… grumble, grumble… seems like all of this never ends… I'm a King! I shouldn't have to deal with all of this! I mean, who cares what the average lava flow speed of Darkland is! And… what even is this, composition of soil research? All we've got is ash and dirt! What's there to research?! Ugh… I should be out getting ready for the next sporting event, or planning the next kidnapping, not wasting my time drowning in garbage! Oh look, garbage disposal. Perfect. What don't these idiots get about lava dumping? It burns to a crisp! Nothing to clean up! But seriously, why do I have so many things to read and sign? Man… it feels like I've been here for weeks…_

Knock knock…

_Oh, now what… probably Kamek with MORE paper to shove down my throat…_

Tiredly, Bowser rubbed his eyes in an effort to keep himself awake. "Come in…"

There was a slight pause before the door creaked open. Instead of a large stack of paper, like he had been dreading, a small tuft of red hair was barely visible as it bobbed into the room.

"Oh, hey Junior…" Bowser barely looked up as he continued writing, the scratches of the pen being the only noise for a few moments as his youngest son approached the large desk. He was slightly relieved that it wasn't additional paperwork. If he had gotten any more he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't burn it all to a crisp out of frustration.

"Hi Papa!" Junior chirped. Bowser noticed that he had something in his hands that was covered by a white sheet. This didn't interest him, however, and so he quickly resumed his work.

"Haven't seen you around in a while," the king noted, only somewhat paying attention, "Everything okay?"

"Yup!" But had he been paying attention, Bowser would've probably noticed his son's slight hesitation on hearing that question.

"Well that's good…" There was more silence, and Junior shuffled from one foot to another.

"…Papa?"

Bowser ran a hand through his fiery mane, letting out a small sigh. "What is it, Junior? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Oh… well I made something really special for everyone, and I wanted to show it to you!"

"Yeah… great… I'll look at it later."

Junior looked crestfallen. "But Papa-"

_I don't have time for this…_ "Look, Junior, I get that it's special, but I really don't have a lot of time right now. I need to finish all of this stupid paperwork, so it's going to have to wait."

Junior turned away, immensely disappointed. "…you aren't mad at me too, are you, Papa?"

By this time, Bowser had lost all focus on his son, the mediocre task absorbing his concentration once more. So he simply ignored the question and waved a dismissive hand to his son.

"Yeah, fine, whatever… just go destroy something... I gotta do this…"

The youngest prince hung his head dejectedly as he shuffled out of the room. "…I'm sorry, Papa…"

_Click._

_Wait… what did he say? Ah, whatever, I'm sure it wasn't important… probably just wanted a snack or something… Maybe wanted some paper to colour on… And speaking of, how can we have so much paperwork when we barely even have any trees in this place? I really need to hire someone to do this for me…_

**XXXXX**

Outside, the heir slumped down in front of the door in great distress, resting his head against the wooden frame. He stared up at the chandelier, struggling against the sobs that threatened to pierce the silence of the hallway. He hugged the painting to his chest, vainly seeking solace through his lifeless masterpiece. He almost didn't care about the painting at this point. It didn't feel that special anymore.

_I can't believe it… how could he… how could he just brush me off like that? I don't even know if he's mad or not! But I didn't even promise anything… And Papa's supposed to be the one that looks at it and gets the others to see it too! Then everyone will get why I forgot everything! He's… he's not supposed to turn me away… I'm his favourite… I'm the best… It's not fair…_

Junior shook his head, and slowly got to his feet. Looking around one last time, he began to drag himself to his room.

_Maybe… maybe I'll try again tomorrow…_

**XXXXX**

As it turned out, tomorrow yielded the same results. Junior ended up spending the entire week attempting to reveal his masterpiece to his family, hoping they would be over their initial anger. He didn't dare approach Iggy, Roy, or Wendy; he knew it would take longer for them to dismiss their feelings towards him. Yet no matter what he did, his efforts yielded no results. Even approaching Morton and Lemmy while they were on their own had no effect, for they still refused to even glance at his artwork, though they didn't seem to be the slightest bit angry.

Kamek and Kammy were continuously busy, and even the minions weren't paying him any mind.

But what stung the most were his father's continuous brushoffs, even when he didn't seem to be preoccupied with something else when he approached. He attempted every time of day he could, speaking to him at least four times turning the day. The young child was doomed to failure at every turn, and he descended further into despair, while his frustration rose with every rejection.

At last, one week from the completion of his painting, everyone was gathered around for dinner, quiet for once, and Junior decided to make the most of this golden opportunity. It wasn't often that the entire royal family was able to dine together peacefully, and the prince wasn't about to let this moment pass him by. He waited until the consumption of the meal neared its completion before standing on his chair and smacking his hands on his table as loud as he could. While he wasn't strong enough to create a significant amount of noise, it still managed to draw the attention of the majority of his family.

"Does _no one_ want to see my painting?" he demanded. His question was met with silence, and his frustration began to reach its boiling point, and his sadness increasing, slipping down the abyss that had been his mood as of late.

"Hello?" He tried again, voice rising in volume.

"Junior, calm down," Bowser murmured, only half-focused, "I said I'd see it later."

"You've been saying that for a week!" Junior wailed, stamping his foot on his chair. "Same with Kamek and Kammy!"

"We've been busy, Junior," Kamek dismissed, "Have patience."

"And don't stand on your chair!" Kammy scolded, grumbling to herself afterwards.

"But you promised you'd look at it!"

"Undt vhat about you?" Ludwig retorted, angrily pointing a fork at his youngest brother, "You promised zings to all of us but apparently ve veren't good enough for you!"

"I _said_ I forgot!"

"You certainly didn't say you were sorry," Larry spoke up, folding his arms in irritation.

"Yes I did!"

Iggy snorted. "Noooo, you didn't! Sure, you apologized to Lemmy and I about forgetting your promises, but you definitely didn't apologize for all the pain and humiliation you caused us!"

"Well if you'd just let me _show_ it to you-"

"Oh, enough about the stupid painting already!" Wendy snapped, exasperatingly rolling her eyes, "No one cares about what you did!"

"So you don't want to see it?"

"NO!" All of his siblings shouted at him in outrage, with the exception of Morton and Lemmy, who simply looked away. Roy stood up and gave him the scariest look Junior had ever seen.

"Let's get one ting straight, pipsqueak. It ain't all about you. We don't care about your stupid scratches, we don't care about who ya tink you are, and, right now, we _really_ don't care about you! Especially not afta what you did!" So stuff it and shut up!" The others nodded in agreement, angrier than ever.

Crestfallen, Junior turned to Bowser one last time. "P-papa…?"

Bowser didn't even glance his way his attention focused on the paper in his hands.

"Sure, whatever… just stop bothering your siblings…"

That tore it. Junior couldn't take anymore.

He felt his distress plummet to the bottom of the abyss.

He felt himself about to break down in misery in front of his entire family.

Then he finally snapped.

His sadness suddenly vanished and was replaced by an incredible spike of rage. He glared furiously around the table, unable to stand it anymore.

"Fine!" he screeched, "Fine then! If that's how you want it, then I don't have to put up with this! If you all want me gone so badly then maybe I'll just leave! We'll see how much you care then!" He stormed out of the room. "I don't need you anyway! I'm better off on my own!"

"Good riddance," Ludwig hissed, returning to his meal.

"Agreed," Wendy spoke up, texting away.

Lemmy and Morton exchanged worried looks, but even if they were no longer angry with him, they were unable to go after him to reassure him, for fear of Iggy's sanity and Roy's fists, respectively. They could only hope that he wouldn't live up to his threat.

**XXXXX**

**I hope you enjoyed! And I enjoy your reviews! ^^ Thanks to everyone who did!**


	6. Chapter 5: Escape Route

**So I realize how… well, stupid the whole 'Bowser and paperwork' thing sounded. So if you'd rather mentally change that to 'planning a kidnapping', then I'd be all for it ^^ It wouldn't be too different and it would seem more logical.**

**Also, it's been awhile since I've worked on this, so my writing style might be a bit different, since I've been trying to advance my techniques and keep things interesting and visual.**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

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The halls empty from the Training Day activities, none saw the raging fury of the youngest castle member, painting gripped dangerously under his arm. Even if they did, would they not pay him no mind? He hadn't been seen for weeks, and to the minions, that simply meant one less person to boss them around or torch them for their failures or idiocy. Junior didn't care. For once this week, he simply wanted to be left alone, allowed to carry out his plan without interference. They'd learn what would happen when he was ignored.

His seething stroll slowing slightly, he sighed somberly. He couldn't live up to his threat. He wasn't even allowed to leave the castle on his own. And even if he was ignored by most of the castle members, he certainly wouldn't be by the security cameras and the guards, who'd inform his father immediately if he'd left. There were too many variables to take into consideration. Where would he go? How would he get there? Would he be well-received? Would they tell his family when he finally arrived?

As Junior shuffled into his bedroom, the gears turned in his young mind, going through each question one at a time. Location was the most predominant factor. He wanted to be somewhere he would be noticed and appreciated for who he was. Somewhere that people couldn't possibly ignore him, for good or for bad. Somewhere he was known, but could get away with staying for a few days. Somewhere that someone cared.

The answer exploded into his face like a Bob-omb when he saw one of his practice drawings for his painting, a splash of pink shining like a beacon through the darkness that was his conundrum. "That's it! Mama Peach! She won't ignore me!"

Happy knowing that he could at least see _someone_ who really would care for him, he bustled around his bedroom to prepare. Junior grabbed his magic brush and tied his blue bandana to the end of it to act as a bag for his things. He didn't pack much, figuring that he'd be able to get enough food in the Mushroom Kingdom, though he did grab two chocolate bars and a bottle of Koopalade. Besides that, he grabbed the remote for his clown car, figuring he could summon it if needed. Junior didn't want to take it out to escape, knowing that he would be spotted long after he left and long before he arrived. He also took one of his experimental Mechakoopas, extra cuffs, and his chain chomp plush. He reached out a hand to take his painting as well, but paused. There was no telling if the painting would get damaged on the way there, depending on his method of transportation. Junior rummaged through his room until he found a camera, and took the best picture he could of it, given the lighting. He then connected the camera to his laptop and printed out the picture. After cutting it out and making sure that it looked as good as it could, he put the photocopy into the bag, scribbled a quick goodbye note, and placed it on his bed alongside the original painting. Then he began to think about how he was going to get to his mama.

Now, the smart thing to do would've been to use his paintbrush to make a portal to the Mushroom Kingdom. But, since he was only five, and since he already had his paintbrush acting as a handle for his things, he didn't think of this. Instead, his mind flashed back to something Iggy had said earlier that week.

'_I need you to partake in a teleportation experiment of mine!'_

…_I wonder where he's keeping it…_

Grabbing paint brush and the bag that hung on it, Junior glanced out of his room, looking around to make sure that there wasn't anyone around, before speeding as quickly as his little legs could carry him to Iggy's lab.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The lab was dark and empty when Junior snuck into it. It sent shivers down his shell simply to be here. He knew that if Iggy found him, he'd be good enough as eaten.

Speaking of eaten, Junior froze when he spotted Chompella sleeping away in front of Iggy's bed. Her face twitched as the smell of the room changed slightly, but she didn't open her eyes, and instead continued with her nap. The youngest breathed a sigh of relief. Iggy had probably trained her to attack him on sight, considering how he'd been talking about him all week.

A quick glance didn't reveal anything that looked remotely like a teleporter. After poking around things that he could fit into, he realized that his efforts were proving futile.

_Now I _wish _I'd gone to that experiment demo… Then at least I'd know what it looks like._

With one final glance, Junior folded his arms to think.

_Maybe the secondary lab…?_

The secondary lab was the lab that Ludwig and Iggy shared and used for large collaborations. It wasn't in use as often as the primary lab in Iggy's bedroom, and was connected to both his and Ludwig's rooms. Junior used his claw to pick the lock on the door. The lab was private between the two, for there was no outside door leading into it; Junior had discovered it by accident when he was snooping around Ludwig's room for his secret stash of chocolate bars.

The Koopaling slipped into the even darker lab, dust filling his nostrils. He couldn't find the light switch, so he was forced to resort to using his fire breath to light the way. He immediately clapped a hand over his mouth as he saw the amount of paper that was scattered about. Ludwig and Iggy would strangle him if he torched their confusing sheets, even if they didn't use this room very often.

His eyes soon adjusted to the darkness, but again, he saw nothing that resembled a transportation device, or even a spot where it could've been taken from.

_This is ridiculous… how am I supposed to run away when Iggy makes it so hard? Selfish nerd..._

Frustrated, Junior leaned up against one of the few empty walls to contemplate what he should do. He suddenly found himself falling backwards and onto his shell.

"What the-?!"

Junior shook his head as he looked up, rolling onto his plastron and glancing around. He'd been resting against an old wooden door that had been left ever so slightly ajar, and the moment he'd began to push against it the white slab of lumber had swung back, hitting something with a loud clang.

The youngest prince froze as he heard some shuffling from Iggy's room, but thankfully Chompella didn't wake. He didn't want to explain what he was doing in this…

_What is this place, anyway?_

Junior easily found the light this time around, and blinked a bit to get used to the sudden, albeit flickering, brightness. It was a small storage closet, filled with lots of large machines that were covered in faded white sheets.

"Maybe in here… They seem big enough." He began to glance under the sheets, but none looked similar to what he faintly remembered Iggy describing. Unlike what his siblings assumed, he _did_ remember some details about their requests, just not the specific dates or requests. And after being reminded on what exactly he'd missed, a few facts had begun to return to him.

One detail was the general appearance of the teleportation machine.

"_Oh she's beautiful, Junior, absolutely beautiful!" Iggy boasted beside him, while he was distracted with getting more supplies. "She's like a miniature closet of amazement! A gorgeous glass door shields her delicate interior from the harsh elements of the outside… sleek silver paneling, the finest in all of Darkland… and the control panel was a work of genius! It can narrow distance from miles, to yards, to the tiniest inch! Trust me, you've never seen a finer device in all your life. And once it's successfully tested, you'll get a slight footnote in my extensive article I'm writing. You'll be a famous labrat in the Mushroom World's science community!"_

"_Mm hm." Junior barely registered what he said, focusing more on finding the perfect shade of green that would match his taller brother's erratic and palm frond-like hair._

"Thank you, Iggy…" Junior continued to look under sheets until he found a strange machine that seemed to match his description. _Glass door, control panel, silver panels, big enough for a Dragon-Koopa… this must be it..._

He had to admit, it seemed to be somewhat old. Nevertheless, he reasoned, it must have taken Iggy quite a long time to assemble it. Perhaps it had just aged with the project. And of course, where else to put an embarrassing failure than stashed in a back room covered in a sheet? He had enough of those in _his_ closet, that was for certain, and most from this latest project alone. He always kept his old pieces, to learn from them and sometimes to turn them into something else.

Junior removed the sheet and let it fall to the floor. There was little dust on it, as was to be expected. On the side of the machine, barely visible from where he stood, was faded text that seemed to say _Property Of… IG._ The part before the letters I and G was faded from view, and scuff marks prevented Junior from seeing if there were any letters afterwards. _Yeah, it's got to be Iggy's. I mean, who else could've made it?_

Suddenly nervous about being walked in on, Junior quietly shut the closet door and turned to face his perfect ticket out of Darkland.

_Now I just gotta set it to the right place._

After plugging in the machine and watching it power up, he began to investigate the teleporter's console. The first panel was simple enough: a standard area selection screen chosen with up and down arrow buttons that listed names of different locations in alphabetical order. Junior easily flipped down to the Mushroom Kingdom and chose that as his destination.

But the second part of the machine was a bit different. It had numbers and abbreviations, and the young Dragon-Koopa had no idea what to make of it. He wanted to be close to the castle, but he had no idea how to make that happen, or how close he should be.

Junior's eyes scrolled through the options, none of them looking familiar to his limited knowledge regarding mathematical units of measurement. His eyes finally landed on the 'YRS' option.

"Well… Iggy mentioned something about 'yards', whatever those are… so maybe if I pick this, I'll be a few backyards away from Mama Peach!" He glanced over at the numbers. "But I don't wanna be too close… If they send a search party, which they probably won't, then I want to show up a little farther than right at the castle… And Iggy will be really mad if he spots his machine… It would be funny to scare those 'fraidy toads by just popping up, though!" He finally settled on the number thirty. "Oh well… better safe than sorry. Thirty backyards can't be too far away!"

Smiling in excitement, he put his things on the floor of the interior and hit a button that began a countdown. He also chose to bring along the sheet that covered the machine, just in case he needed to hide it better.

_Ten… Nine..._

Junior opened the door and scuttled inside.

_Eight… Seven…_

He made himself comfortable in case it was going to be a long ride.

_Six… Five…_

He silently said goodbye to his family, despite how unfairly he felt he was being treated.

_Four… Three…_

The teleporter began to hum quite quickly, bracing itself for what Junior had inputted.

_Two…_

Lights began to flash and the machine started to shake.

_One..._

The hum had reached a high pitch, and everything was now ready.

"Alright…" The prince let out a slow breath to prepare himself. "Here we go!"

And once the countdown hit zero, Junior and the teleportation machine that carried him disappeared into thin air with a bright flash of light. The surge of energy made the lightbulb shatter into pieces, rendering the small closet dark once more, as if no one had even been there.

In the other room, Chompella bolted awake and looked around curiously at the sudden sound. But, not seeing or smelling anything, she let out a nonchalant whine and hopped around her bed three times, before snuggling up against her bone-shaped chew toy and returning to her slumber yet again.

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	7. An Interlude Of Time

**This is PROBABLY spoilers, but oh well. XP There wasn't really another place to put it but I wanted to really post this! I'm hoping to have another chapter out in a few days! ^^ stay tuned!**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I sit and wait, the incessant beat of the timekeeper behind me never faltering as each passing second echoes through the room. Perhaps one day it will suddenly fall silent, no one but myself knowing the commitment that had been kept for all its days, for I had never known the enjoyment of company from the moment I entered this place.

It is I alone that sits here. I and the continuous timekeeper behind me.

I wait expectantly, as I've been doing every day for the past several years, wondering when my long vigil will finally come to its end. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here, but one can only endure so much before patience begins to wear. Long gone are the days when I'd hear the screaming of those in the other rooms beside my own. I know what's happened. I'm the one who caused it.

My mind drifts to childhood occurrences. What has it been... Near twenty eight years since his disappearance? And perhaps half that since my hidden restoration. My caretakers have long since stopped visitation, only leaving food and water while unconsciousness grips me. I only ever move to relieve myself.

The timekeeper hasn't seen my face in years. I don't turn around. I can't bear to see my tale. Too many memories of what I've done, what I've become, and what I've lost.

It's been decades and yet he still goes strong. He is never behind. Always the same. What will I do when my timekeeper goes silent? I rise at the same time, rest at the same time. Never am I oblivious to what second of the day it is. Never.

Perhaps he went silent long ago. Perhaps the timekeeper is a subconscious rhythm of my own, never ceasing, always ticking in tune.

My chains have long fallen silent. Only natural molecular vibration dares disturb them, since absolute zero is impossible here. I can tell they move. I'm still enough to notice, at least I like to think so. Should I be grey, those who watch me would believe me to be a statue.

So long as _that_ one never watches me again, I don't care what anyone thinks. He must never realize my newfound stability. I received an out through disobedience. I will surely fall should I ever be forced to return to my crimes.

Perhaps my timekeeper is my judge, counting the seconds until my sentence is complete. I would not blame him if he was. My only solace was the one who is no longer alive but yet is now a part of me; a gleaming, still statue born from our horrible mutation, a permanent, innocent smile that I refuse to turn to.

And now the timekeeper is my only friend. The only sound I hear besides my own breathing. My heartbeat has long since synchronized with his ticks. I suppose even without my timekeeper, my heart would tell time for me. Another friend who is a part of me, though less literal than the last one I had.

Perhaps one day that door will open. I would receive my guest and tell them about my friend, the timekeeper.

And they would look at me strangely, not comprehending at all...

For all they would see...

Is the clock on the wall.


End file.
